Me Too (a McRoll in the REAL World story)
by sammy1026
Summary: Steve and Catherine spend some time alone.


_I was gonna do this week's quotes from Raging Bull to honor the memory of Theresa Saldana, whose legacy extended far beyond her work on the large and small screen into the world of victim's rights where she had such an amazing impact. But then I realized it's hard to pull quotes from Raging Bull that wouldn't make my ANs M-rated._

 _So instead I'll just say_

 _Mari & Ilna-you guys are champs._

 _Sandy-so glad you're in my corner._

 _REAL Worlders-your awesome support and encouragement make all the hard work worth it._

 _RIP Theresa Saldana. If you're not familiar with her story do yourself a favor and Google it._

* * *

 **Me Too (1/1)**

"Pancakes are my absolute favorite dinner," Steve growled in a low, sexy voice as he placed the last forkful off his plate into his mouth.

"That's because you like the fact that we cook them naked now," Catherine grinned.

"I'll admit that is one of my favorite new traditions," he nodded as he placed his empty plate on the coffee table. "Now what's next on this evening's agenda?"

Catherine took another bite of her pancakes then offered the rest to Steve. "We have a few more thank you notes from the wedding to finish up. They say we have three months to get them done but I'm really hoping to have them all sent out by next week."

"Always the overachiever," he said proudly as he polished off the last of her pancakes and placed her plate on top of his.

"The ocean air has really been doing a number on the paint on a couple of the Adirondack chairs. We could repaint those," she suggested.

Steve shook his head. "Nope. Painting the chairs would require us to get dressed and that's not happening. It's naked night."

"It's the whole night now?" Catherine asked uncertainly. "Because I kinda thought the naked part was just a pancake related thing."

Steve shook his head adamantly. "It was such a hit it's been extended to include the entire evening."

"If you say so," she laughed, not feeling inclined to put up too much of a fight. "There's laundry to do. And I thought I heard one of the smoke detector batteries beeping earlier so those all need to be changed."

"Ok, how about this," he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "I'll put these dishes in the dishwasher and change the smoke alarm batteries while you throw in a load of laundry. Then I'll meet you back here and we'll work on the thank you notes together."

"Sounds like an excellent plan," she agreed.

He picked up their empty plates and started for the kitchen then turned back.

"Don't put on any clothes," he reminded her.

"I would never dishonor naked night like that," she smirked.

"That's my girl!"

Thirty minutes later they sat side by side on the couch writing out thank you notes and making sure each one contained a personal message or memory from the wedding along with their appreciation for the donation made in lieu of a gift.

"Can we print off a copy of that picture of Cuzzi in a grass skirt at the luau and include it with his thank you?" Steve asked.

Catherine barked a laugh. "I'm surprised you're not blowing that up to poster size."

"I'm gonna do that the next time the group of us get together," Steve chuckled.

"Just make sure I'm there to see it."

"Deal!"

They chatted about everything and nothing as they continued to make their way down the list of wedding guests. When the washer buzzed Steve went to the garage to move the first load to the dryer and throw a second load in while Catherine retrieved some cold beers from the refrigerator and popped a bag of microwave popcorn.

As Steve made his way back into the living room he stopped, mesmerized by the sight of her checking off another name on the list while absentmindedly licking the salt of the popcorn from her lips.

After a few seconds she felt him staring and looked up. "What?"

"Nothing," he smiled. "You just look very sexy eating popcorn."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Could it be because I'm naked?"

"Nope." He crossed the room and settled beside her once again on the couch. "You'd look sexy eating popcorn if you were wearing a flannel nightgown."

"That's very sweet." She kissed him on the cheek and passed him the bowl.

Steve turned towards her and his words took on a more serious tone. "I'm really glad we decided to stay in tonight. And not just because of the nakedness."

Catherine could see the sincerity in his eyes.

"Same here," she smiled softly.

"Don't get me wrong I love the time we spend with our family and friends."

"Of course," she nodded.

"And as much as I enjoy busting Danny about our little emergency trip to Mexico last weekend I'm really glad the people in our lives know they can count on us if they ever need anything, and we know we can count on them."

"I love that too," she agreed.

He took the pen from her hand, laid it on the table, then laced their fingers together.

"I just want to make sure we never get so busy with everything and everyone else that we forget how important it is to spend time together … just the two of us."

Catherine squeezed his hands. "We'll never forget that, Steve. I promise."

"Good," he exhaled as he leaned back, pulling her with him. He wrapped his arms around her and she immediately curled into his side.

He tried to find the words to tell her how much he treasured their alone time. How it recharged his batteries and restored a sense of peace and calm to his life. How talking to her about even the simplest things made him feel better. How the unconditional love and mutual respect he felt when they were together warmed his heart in a way words could never come close to expressing. How he felt simultaneously calm and energized. How it made him want to be the best person he could be.

How it made him feel … complete.

He opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come.

He took a deep breath and tried again but still nothing he could think of seemed to capture the enormity of his feelings.

He pulled back and looked in her eyes.

She was beaming at him with a smile that told him as usual she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Me too," she said softly.

"How do you do that?" he asked as he lifted one hand and softly caressed her cheek. "How do you always seem to be able to read my mind?"

"Do you really want to know?" she asked, her voice thick with emotion.

He nodded, not confident enough in his voice to try to speak.

"When we first met I could tell right away you were very guarded. That you didn't like the idea of letting other people see what was really going on in your mind."

He dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement and she continued.

"But little by little you opened up to me. Usually a tiny sliver at a time " She placed her hand over his. "I treasured each and every one of those slivers because I knew how hard it was for you to let anyone in. And each time you did … each time you trusted me with your heart, your soul, your thoughts, your feelings … it was …a gift that helped me understand you better. I treasured every one of those slivers back then and I still do today."

"Thank you," he whispered.

"I can tell what you're thinking because you do me the great honor of letting me in completely. Of not hiding behind walls. You're open to me in every way and that means … everything to me."

"I never want there to be any obstacles between us," he said earnestly. "I used to think that being vulnerable to another person would only lead to heartbreak but with you I learned what real love is. What family is." He kissed her softly. "What happiness is."

"Right back at ya, Commander." She settled her head against his chest.

"It's kind of interesting we're having this conversation about no barriers between us while we're both naked," he said.

She raised her head and grinned at him. "You think that means something, do you?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "I think it means we should institute a new policy. Naked Fridays."

"You think so?" she chuckled.

"I really do!"

"That's gonna make it hard for us to socialize with our friends on Fridays," she pointed out.

"There are six other days of the week," he countered.

She pursed her lips. "Maybe we make it more of an occasional thing?"

"Once a month." He was in full negotiation mode. "That's my final offer."

"Ok," she acquiesced. "But how about sometimes we mix things up and have a naked Tuesday. Or Thursday."

"I like the way you think, Lieutenant. Maybe we can even save a few of them up and have an entire naked weekend."

Catherine snorted.

"Are you saying you'd be opposed to a full naked weekend?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"I'm saying no such thing," she smiled. "But I think the neighbors might object to us running Cammie with no clothes on."

Steve pondered for a minute. "In the interest of not breaking public decency laws we can have brief periods of being clothed on naked weekend."

She pretended to consider it for a minute. "I can live with that."

Steve tangled his hand in her hair and kissed her passionately. When he came up for air he said, "Can you tell what I'm thinking now?"

"Not a lot of decoding involved in that one," she grinned.

"Ok, Kreskin," he leaned in for another kiss. "I'm gonna throw on shorts for just a minute and take Cammie out for one last potty break."

"I'll meet you in the bathroom," she grinned saucily.

"To practice making pictures on the heat sensitive tiles?"

"Now _you're_ reading _my_ mind," she smiled.

 **THE END**

* * *

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